The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Wednesday denied reports of a scabies outbreak at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) or in any other prison and penal farm nationwide.
BuCor issued the statement after political prisoner group Kapatid urged the agency to allow the immediate delivery of medicines and conduct treatment and sanitation campaigns for persons deprived of liberty.
Kapatid claimed that during recent visits, skin infections appeared to be spreading quickly in the NBP’s Reception and Diagnostic Center amid severe overcrowding and lack of water.
However, BuCor Acting Director for Health and Welfare Services Ma. Cecilia Villanueva said the last recorded scabies outbreak occurred two years ago.
She noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross, in collaboration with BuCor, earlier sponsored an anti-scabies treatment campaign and said protocols remain in place for the delivery of medicines to inmates.
